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Audra McDonald and Andy Einhorn bring Broadway favorites to Blossom

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by Mike Telin

“I love Blossom and I love the Cleveland Orchestra and I know Audra feels the same way,” conductor Andy Einhorn said. “Every time we’re there it’s such a warm and welcoming experience, not only working with the orchestra, but also with the audiences because they’re wonderful and hungry for great entertainment.”

On Sunday, August 13 at 7:00 pm at Blossom Music Center, Einhorn will lead Grammy and Tony Award–winning vocalist Audra McDonald and The Cleveland Orchestra in an evening of Broadway favorites. The program will include music by Rodgers and Hammerstein, Stephen Sondheim, George Gershwin, and others. Tickets are available online.

I reached Einhorn by phone in Aspen, Colorado.

Mike Telin: I understand you and Audra were out hiking.

Andy Einhorn: Yes, we’re trying to spend as much time in nature as possible.

[Read more…]

Marriage, divorce, musical tourism, and a bit of mystery: a conversation with Nic McGegan

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by Mike Telin

Although conductor Nic McGegan has only worked with Cleveland Orchestra principal clarinet Afendi Yusuf on one occasion, he said it was pure heaven. “It was a couple of years ago when we did the suite from Schubert’s Rosamunde, which has a wonderful clarinet part and he just blew me away. You don’t hear clarinet playing that classy everyday. I’m thrilled that he’s going to play this concerto and I’m just so happy to be able to stand next to him.”

On Saturday, August 12, at 7:00 pm at Blossom Music Center, McGegan will lead Afendi Yusuf and The Cleveland Orchestra in a performance of Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto. The program also includes Mozart’s Overture to The Marriage of Figaro, Elena Langer’s Suite from Figaro Gets a Divorce, and Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 4, “Italian.” Tickets are available online.

Saturday’s concert also marks Yusuf’s debut as a concerto soloist with his Cleveland colleagues. “That’s an extra treat for me,” McGegan said during a recent phone conversation. “And it’s one of those pieces which an audience always warms to, so it’s going to be great fun.”

Unlike a lot of Mozart’s music — which McGegan said was often written for a performance “next week” — this is not true of the clarinet concerto. “Obviously it dates from the last month he was alive, but it appears that he may have been thinking about it at least two years earlier.”

[Read more…]

Two share top prize at the 2023 Cooper International Piano Competition

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from an Oberlin Conservatory news report
by Shelly Rasmussen

History was made this evening as Pyotr Akulov and Sophia Shuya Liu were both named champions for the Cooper International Competition for Piano. (Photo by Yevhen Gulenko.)

For the first time in the history of the Cooper Competition for Piano, the top prize was awarded to two participants. Pyotr Akulov and Sophia Shuya Liu were named co-champions following the Concerto Concert with The Cleveland Orchestra Friday evening.

Akulov opened the concert performing Liszt’s Concerto No. 1 in E-flat. Liu followed next, performing Saint-Saëns’ Concerto No. 2 in g. Second place winner Taige Wang ended the concert with a performance of Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini.

All three finalists performed with The Cleveland Orchestra, under the direction of David Robertson. [Read more…]

Cooper International Piano Competition: Three to Play with The Cleveland Orchestra

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from an Oberlin Conservatory news report
by Shelly Rasmussen

The three days of semi-final performances that have taken place in Warner Concert Hall culminated Wednesday evening in the selection of three pianists chosen to move on to the Concerto Finals at Severance Hall on Friday evening. (Photo with the jury by Adan Caldera Quintero.)

Pyotr Akulov, (16), of Moscow, Russia, Sophia Shuya Liu, (14), of Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and Taige Wang, (13), of New York, New York, United States have advanced to the Concerto Finals.

On Friday, each finalist will perform with the Cleveland Orchestra, under the direction of David Robertson. The Concerto Finals will also be available via livestream. The concert will feature Liu performing Saint-Saëns’ Concerto No. 2 in g, Op. 22, Wang performing Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43, and Akulov performing Liszt’s Concerto No. 1 in E-flat, S. 124. [Read more…]

The Cleveland Orchestra: a conversation with composer Sarah Kirkland Snider

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by Mike Telin

“I’m thrilled to be able to make it out for the performance of Something for the Dark,” Sarah Kirkland Snider said during a recent interview. “And to have it played by The Cleveland Orchestra with David Robertson conducting, I mean, that’s just the best kind of performance a composer could ask for.”

On Saturday, August 5 at 7:00 pm at Blossom Music Center, Robertson will lead Snider’s work along with John Adams’ Century Rolls featuring pianist Conrad Tao as soloist, and Sibelius’ Symphony No. 1. At 6:00 pm, Daniel Reith will lead the Kent Blossom Chamber Orchestra in Beethoven’s Overture to The Creatures of Prometheus, Gabriel Fauré’s Pavane, and Sergei Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 1 “Classical.” Tickets are available online.

I reached the composer by phone at her home in Princeton, New Jersey and began by asking her if she ever thought Something for the Dark would acquire the legs that it has.

Sarah Kirkland Snider: No, of course not — many new pieces get performed once or twice, and then that’s it. That’s sort of the fate of most orchestral music being written these days, because orchestras feel a tremendous pressure to cater to the pieces that audiences know.

[Read more…]

Pianist Conrad Tao returns to Blossom with Century Rolls

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by Mike Telin

Although Conrad Tao first performed John Adams’ Century Rolls in 2015 when he was 21, the pianist said that his history with the concerto goes back to when he was 11 — when, on the advice of his composition teacher Christopher Theofanidis, he listened to the Nonesuch recording with Emanuel Ax and The Cleveland Orchestra conducted by Christoph von Dohnányi. “I was like, ‘Wow, Adams wrote a piano concerto.’ I was so excited to discover that as a child, so this piece is quite special to me.”

On Saturday, August 5 at 7:00 pm at Blossom Music Center, Tao will perform Century Rolls with David Robertson and The Cleveland Orchestra. The program also includes Sarah Kirkland Snider’s Something for the Dark, and Sibelius’ Symphony No. 1. At 6:00 pm, Daniel Reith will lead the Kent Blossom Chamber Orchestra in Beethoven’s Overture to The Creatures of Prometheus, Gabriel Fauré’s Pavane, and Sergei Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 1 “Classical.” Tickets are available online.

[Read more…]

Cooper International Piano Competition: Seven (Not Six) Advance to Concerto Round

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from an Oberlin Conservatory news report
by Shelly Rasmussen

After two days of nineteen semifinal performances, each consisting of 40-minute programs, the jury has selected seven pianists to move on to the Concerto Round. The Concerto Round on Wednesday features the pianists in performances of a full concerto, with piano accompaniment. Our finalists range in age from 13 to 18 years old and represent seven countries.

The following musicians have been selected to advance:

Andrew Sijie Li, 15, Boston, Massachusetts | Canada & Hong Kong
L. V. BEETHOVEN Concerto No. 3 in C Minor, Op. 37

Sophia Shuya Liu, 14, Montreal, Quebec | Canada
C. SAINT-SAENS Concerto No. 2 in G Minor, Op. 22

Yanyan Bao, 16, Zhuhai, Guangdong | China
F. CHOPIN Concerto No. 2 in F Minor, Op. 21 [Read more…]

Cooper International Competition Invites 19 Pianists to Oberlin

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by Mike Telin

Next week the Cooper International Competition turns its attention to the piano for the first time since 2018. “It’s been five years, so it’s good to be back,” Oberlin Conservatory professor and Competition director Robert Shannon said during a recent telephone conversation.

This year, 19 pianists between the ages of 13 and 18 who have advanced through the preliminaries of submitted videos will participate in live rounds in Oberlin’s Warner Concert Hall from July 31 to August 2. Click here to view their biographies and repertoire lists.

The 19, who represent 7 countries and 4 U.S. states, are vying for the opportunity to play full concertos in a final round with The Cleveland Orchestra under the direction of David Robertson at Severance Music Center on Friday, August 4 at 7:30 pm — and the $20,000 first prize. Tickets are available online.

[Read more…]

CIPC for Young Artists Senior winner: A conversation with Saehyun Kim

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by Mike Telin

A native of Seoul, South Korea, 16-year-old Saehyun Kim is no stranger to international competitions — in 2022 he won First Prize at both the Morningside Music Bridge International Concerto Competition and the New England Conservatory (NEC) Preparatory School Concerto Competition.

Kim has appeared as a soloist with the Sendai Philharmonic, and Korean Symphony, and was invited to give interviews and performances for national music channels such as JTBC Classic Today and KBS Classic FM. Currently he is a Young Scholar of the Lang Lang International Music Foundation and a junior at Walnut Hill School for the Arts, studying with HaeSun Paik, faculty at the New England Conservatory.

On Saturday July 15, Kim added another win to his list when he was awarded First Prize ($10,000) in the Senior Division of the Cleveland International Piano Competition for Young Artists. He was also awarded the Audience Prize, Senior Division ($500) and the Junior Jury Prize, Senior Division ($500).

[Read more…]

CIPC for Young Artists Junior Winner: A conversation with Elisey Mysin

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by Mike Telin

Born in Stavropol, Russia, 12-year-old Elisey Mysin began studying piano at the age of four. He currently attends the Central Music School in Moscow where he is a student of Natalia Trull and Daniil Tsvetkov.

Mysin has already amassed several wins at international competitions including First Prize at the 2022, 4th Zhuhai International Mozart Competition for Young Musicians in China, and has performed concertos with the State Symphony Orchestra of Leningrad, and the Russian National Youth Symphony Orchestra.

Mysin has appeared at many festivals including the Baikal Stars, InClassica International Music Festival (Dubai, UAE, 2021), and Bieszczady bez granic (Sanok, Poland, 2022, main prize of the festival).

On Saturday July 15, Mysin added another win to his list when he was awarded First Prize ($5,000) in the Junior Division of the Cleveland International Piano Competition for Young Artists. He was also awarded the Audience Prize, Junior Division ($500) and shared the Mozart Prize (tie, $250 each) with Yanyan Bao (16, China).

[Read more…]

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